


Wife and Debt

by Lymelight



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: F/M, hella gay for a straight ship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-07-11 12:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15971969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lymelight/pseuds/Lymelight
Summary: Veronica and Logan run into each other after 10 years apart and Veronica's kinda married but it's complicated.Based on Adorkableauthor ramblings “the one where it’s Christmas in NYC”Non movie compliant





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AdorkableAuthor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdorkableAuthor/gifts).



> Ok So I've been working in theory on this forever. I give up and I'm just posting the first chapter into the world hoping it will give me motivation to write the rest! This chapter is very similar to the one that inspired it so you should feel free to just read that instead it's better written. I don't own anything except for all mistakes and run on sentences.... Actually for that matter not only did I steal Veronica, Logan and Dick from RT and the gang but I also stole Ethan from Adorkable so I seriously cannot claim a single character that shows up in this chapter.

Veronica anxiously waited outside the hotel for her date. It was one of those New York nights that could make even a Cali girl appreciate the winter, the kind you see on postcards and in movies. With snow falling from the sky and lightly covering the ground, still white before the dirt of the city could color it grey.The beauty of the snow matched elegantly with the ball gowns and suits of everybody attending tonight’s affair but it did not make up for the fact that Veronica herself had to attend.It did not matter how many of these events she had to go to Veronica always hated everything about them.

It almost made her long for the days when she had to hide out in Lily’s room while Lily made her obligatory appearance at whatever party her parents were hosting that night. _If Celeste could see me now…_ Veronica had to laugh at how much her social position had changed over the years, and never quite the way she had planned. Sure there was a time where she thought she might attend these functions as Mrs. Kane, and she’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about being invited as a certain Mr. Echoll’s plus one.These circumstances though, were a little bit more unique. 

The dress she was wearing was comfortable and had long sleeves making it perfect for the New York holiday galas. _At least I won’t have to worry about being hit on too much, most of these guys will know that they don’t stand a chance_. Of couse at that moment she caught sight of the one guy who might just still stand a chance, might always stand a chance. _No, stop that. You are NOT available and you haven’t even talked to him in years he could have a wife and kids!_ Veronica mentally chastised herself for her knee jerk reaction to seeing Logan, no matter how long it had been since they had last spoken.

 

For a split second Logan was shocked to see her standing there. When he pictured running into Veronica, and he’d pictured it a lot, it wasn’t here, honestly it was probably anywhere but here.He should have known that she would show up in the least expected place on earth.

“So what’s a schemer like you doing in a place like this?”

“Isn’t the quote supposed to be ‘nice girl’?”

“Veronica Mars, a nice girl? Never.” He grinned down at her, “So really this doesn’t seem exactly your style.”

“Umm it’s…complicated.”

“Is it for some sort of case? Actually maybe you shouldn’t tell me, all this time and I’d probably still spend the night worrying.” He laughed off the memories it brought back, he wasn’t going to let them ruin tonight. “I should probably warn you, Dick’s here somewhere too. I can try to keep him away if that’s necessary?”

“No, I’m sure its fine,” as she was speaking a well dressed man came up behind her and put his arms around her shoulders.

“Hey sorry I’m late, always one more thing left to do at the office.” He kissed her cheek. Veronica distractedly kissed him back, never taking her eyes off Logan.

“It’s ok it happens.”

Her date gave Logan a pointed look. “And this is?”

“Sorry, this is Logan, and this is Ethan.”

“Wait, Logan, Logan?”

“Ya... I’ll see you inside okay?”

Ethan reluctantly said “Okay” and let Veronica go. As he walked in he looked back at them, shot Veronica a warning look and called “You know me, I’ll probably be schmoozing some rich old white guy.”

“Actually I thought I saw Mr. Wintchester’s son walk in.”

“Oh you do know me! But that probably won’t be my first stop. Don’t want to seem too desperate.”

Veronica smiled encouragingly at Ethan. He was worried, and she understood why.He had heard a few too many drunken confessions of her’s to not know who Logan was and was to her. However she had managed to create a balance in her life that she was desperate to maintain and she wasn’t about to let anyone or anything upset it.

“Hey it’s okay, you can go be with your date Veronica, you don’t need to explain anything. It’s been what? A decade since we last saw each other? I assumed you had moved on.” _Even if I had hoped otherwise,_ he added silently to himself.

“No, Logan, I’m not dating Ethan, its... God, its complicated!” She was getting a little frustrated about not being able to explain herself to her oldest friend, but in the middle of New York, surrounded by the glitterati was not exactly the best place to have this conversation.

“Is he a friend than?”

“No, he’s kinda my brother in-law.”

“Oh, OH you’re married?” He quickly looked down at her hands to notice she was playing with a pair of rings on her left hand. _How the heck did I miss those?_ _I was probably to busy not looking._

“Sort of, ugh, its complicated.”

“Are you or aren’t you Veronica?”

“I am, I guess I am.” She took a deep breath, “but I’d really love the chance to actually explain myself and maybe catch up. Any chance you’ll be in Neptune for the holidays?”

“Ya, you know what they say no place like home for the holidays.” He tried to chuckle at his own joke. “But umm I still live around there.”

“Great,” Veronica beamed, “I’ll text you! Here,” She handed him her phone, “Put in your new number, I actually still have you down as a contact…”

“Actually I still have the same number,” laughing he handed her back her phone.

“Great, I’ll text you and we can meet up or something.”

“Sure. He’s a lucky man Veronica.”

Veronica chuckled at some private joke, “No, not quite,” when she saw the confused look on Logan’s face she quickly added “I’m a lucky woman, I really should go, but seriously Logan I’ll talk to you later.” She called the last part over her shoulder as she entered the hotel.

 

Logan decided to stand out in the snow for a few more seconds to process what had just happened. Seeing Veronica again had been surreal, as had been finding out she was married. He was excited at the chance to have her back in his life and the fact that she still had his number after all these years. He was less excited at the idea that seeing her again might mean meeting her husband, he was pretty sure he wasn’t ready for that.With a shake of his head, Logan finally started to walk in to the party and had no trouble finding his shaggy haired best friend.

“Dude you won’t believe who just walked in!”

“I already saw her Dick, and don’t worry she’s married.”

“Huh, is it to that guy she’s been hanging on? Or maybe the old dude, I always knew she was a gold digger.”

Logan looked over to see Veronica laughing with Ethan and an older gentleman. “No, Veronica was never a gold digger, she couldn’t care less about money. Anyway the younger one is her brother in-law and I believe her date for the evening, but she wants to talk in Neptune.”

“Whatever man, be happy that means she’s carrying some other dude’s balls in her bag.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is! RT owns V and gang and I stole Ethans and Charlie's names from Adorkable but most of their craziness is all mine as well as all mistakes

A few days later Veronica woke up in her old waterbed. She stretched and smiled at the familiar surroundings.She may not have had the best of times in this room, but now that she had finally gotten away, she could appreciate the latter half of her high school career for what it was. The smell of bacon and pancakes cooking was more than enough to get her out of bed. She threw on some sweat pants and wandered into the kitchen.

She found her dad cooking breakfast and headed over to the counter to grab a cup of coffee. When her father saw her standing next to him, he smiled and asked, “How’s the old ball and chain doing?”

Veronica took a sip of her morning brew before responding.

“Fine, getting some quality time with Mac.”

“Are you sure they’ll be ok together?”

“Ya we got the penthouse at the Grand so there are two bedrooms, and I think its normal for a girl to want to spend some quality time with her pops during the holiday season.”

“How is everything with your marriage going?”

“Nothing new, but umm I ran into Logan.”

“Oh were you with …”

“No just with Ethan but I guess he still lives around here and we made plans to talk today”

Keith looked concerned. He had seen Veronica make too many mistakes over this boy before and did not want her to do anything that might upset her current life.

“Veronica, what exactly are you going to talk to him about?”

She sighed, she understood her father’s concern but she felt it was important that she explain to Logan exactly what was going on. “I’m going to tell him the truth”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Dad, Logan’s my oldest friend and I trust him. Anyway don’t you think he might be a little thrown off by the situation? If nothing else I feel like we need to tell him for the same reason we had to tell Ethan, we might run into him while we are in Neptune and you know he might consider it a little weird.Plus it’s not like he’s possibly involved, he doesn’t know Stacey at all and he doesn’t even live on the East Coast.”

Keith had to admit his daughter had a couple of good points, though he thought it might be funny to see the boy’s face if he had run into Veronica and her better half before finding out the truth.

“Just be careful, you know you need to keep this as discreet as possible.”

“I’m not telling Dick! Just Logan, the boy who grew up in front of the paparazzi selling a happy family image, when you know what was really going on behind closed doors. If anything he probably could’ve given us some great tips,” she paused and added,“I’m not planning on telling him everything, just enough that if he runs into us it won’t be super weird.”

“Ok dear, as long as you know what you are doing.” Keith slid Veronica a plate and smiled at his daughter. It was nice to have her home and he was excited that she was sticking around for two whole weeks.

Veronica scarfed down her breakfast and then went back into her room to get dressed.She had made plans with Logan to meet at her dad’s office later in the day. She figured the professional setting would make this conversation easier and remind her to stay focused. It also would seem the least suspect if a wayward photographer decided to try and take a picture. Veronica was in a high profile marriage in New York.It was a slightly different crowd than was popular out here and so she had not been too concerned about paparazzi but Logan was still his father’s son and a meeting between such famous ex-lovers might be enough to pique someone’s attention. It’s not like her father’s office was over run with customers either. There was a split second where she felt guilty for that, but she knew her father had willingly made the choices he had and hoped that it would all go back to normal soon.

Now though she had to decide what to wear.

In her head she knew it shouldn’t matter. She was still married. Logan could be too, she hadn’t spoken to him in over a decade. When she had run after her freshman year at Hearst, she felt like Neptune had forced her into ruining everything she touched and had done her best to avoid anything that seemed directly linked. Logan was not the only person she felt needed to be left behind but he was by far the most significant. Now might be a chance to let him back in. So she fretted over what to wear.In the end she wanted to look like he remembered her, in her butch boots and leather jacket. So much had changed and today’s news would probably confuse him a bit, she wanted him to know that deep down she was still the same Veronica, still his Veronica and she always would be.

She headed over to her father’s office as soon as she was dressed. She had a few things she wanted to take care of for the day and wanted to look prepared when Logan arrived.

 

He showed up five minutes early. In truth he had been driving around the block for the last half hour waiting for it to be an appropriate time to come up. He was excited to see Veronica again but he was more nervous to hear about her new husband, especially with her ominous “it’s complicated” ringing in his ears. He’d been thinking up theories since he saw her and honestly he’d come up with nothing.Of course his first guess was Duncan. Considering as far as Logan knew he was on the run with Meg’s love child, that would definitely fall into the complicated category, but it didn’t explain Ethan since Duncan didn’t have any siblings that were still alive. He’d briefly considered Dick’s theory but Veronica was never the type to care about money. Anyway after Veronica had left he had introduced himself to the older man Dick had seen her talking to, Charlie. When Logan tried to move the conversation towards marriages, hoping he might give something about Veronica’s away, Charlie mentioned having been married for 20 years. 

Right before he was about to walk into the office it occurred to him that her husband might also be waiting for him behind that door and he spent another second preparing himself to meet his rival.

_Rival? You haven’t even spoken to her since freshman year of college I don’t think you can consider any man she’s seen since your rival!_

His therapist would be aghast to hear him refer to Veronica’s husband like that and this time he would have to admit she was right instead of just firing her like he had all of her predecessors who suggested that his feelings about Veronica were not quite as in the past as he would like to pretend.

He knew the truth was he would always think of Veronica as his one. His one who got away, his one true love, his one chance at happiness, take your pick. He had learned a few days ago that now she was somebody else’s and he needed to face that fact. He still hoped he would not have to meet them when he opened the door but it was time to man up and open it anyway.

As soon as he saw her he smiled. Hunched over the receptionist desk. It was almost like going back in time. He cleared his throat and she looked up from her papers and smiled back at him standing in the office’s small waiting area. She stood up from the desk and suggested they move into her father’s office in case someone showed up.

Veronica led the way and stood behind her father’s desk. Before Logan had even had the chance to close the door, she blurted out, “It’s Mac’s girlfriend!”

Her mouth hung open as if she was as shocked as he was by her outburst.

Logan finished closing the door before turning slowly back towards Veronica, “What?”

“My husband, well I guess really my wife. It’s for a case, for Mac.They wanted to get married but Stacey, her girlfriend, had been married before and her last wife left her because she was blackmailed into it.” Veronica rambled. She sunk into her father’s chair, obviously off balance from her sudden confession. Logan took the chair across from the desk.

“Okay.” He paused trying to take in the idea of Veronica being fake married to a woman.Finally he looked at her and asked, “Why are you telling me all of this? I mean you didn’t have to explain this to me, we haven’t spoken in years.”

“I don’t know, I didn’t even mean to. I was only going to explain that I was married to a woman and it was for a case. Leave it at that.I just didn’t want to freak you out too much by the fact that I was suddenly into the ladies.” She tried to joke but Logan was looking for serious answers and Veronica honestly would have liked them too. She took a deep breathe before admitting, “I guess I wanted you to know I didn’t get married without you. I mean sure technically I did. The wedding did turn out to be legal,”

Logan gave her a look at that last comment, “I’ll explain that later, but it wasn’t for real for real. The last time I seriously pictured my wedding was back before Lilly. We would hang out and make scrapbooks, you might remember mine.” She gave him a soft smile and he returned it, how could he ever forget a moment of what had happened at The Sunset Regent.

“Even if we weren’t planning on marrying you and Duncan, it was important that the four of us were there to witness the day. Now with Lilly gone and Duncan who knows where, you and me, we’re all that’s left. I missed having you at my wedding and I needed you to know that I still wanted you at all of my major life events.”

Logan grabbed a pen off the desk and leaned back in his chair. He mulled over everything Veronica had told him for a few seconds, fiddling with the pen. Finally he looked back up at Veronica and simply commented, “Blackmail?”

She breathed a sigh of relief. If Logan was asking questions he had gotten past the initial ridiculousness of the situation. “Yeah, Stacey says her ex wife Tiffany received a phone call just a few weeks before their wedding, telling her to call it off. Obviously they didn’t, but at the wedding a man insisted on dancing with Tiffany and handed her an envelope. Inside she was given a carrot and a stick so to speak. She was told if she had the wedding annulled she would get a promotion at her job and her parents' business would grow, if she didn’t on the other hand her parents would start losing major clients and there were promises of more threats to come the longer she stayed married. They apparently tried to figure it out on their own and even hired someone but in the end the threats got too big and Tiffany called it quits.”

“So you figured to find the blackmailer,you had to marry her?” It wasn’t the most ridiculous plan she’s ever come up with but it wasn’t exactly his favorite either.

“Mac wanted to just get married and have me work the case if someone threatened her but Stacey wasn’t willing to take the chance that it would drive them apart if I couldn’t figure it out. So in the end I offered. It made sense. If the threats got too bad before I could solve it, we would just get divorced and no one’s real relationships would be hurt by it. Hopefully by that point I would have enough to work with and could continue the case.” Veronica noticed how upset Logan looked at the idea of her putting herself in harm’s way. Looking him straight in the eyes and continued, “There’s a line I don’t cross anymore Logan. If things look like anyone is going to get seriously hurt or lose something important to them I pull out. I don’t risk myself or my friends anymore, I can’t.” She put a hand on Logan’s while she spoke. He looked reassured that Veronica was watching out for herself, that maybe after all these years she had learned to be a little more cautious.

“You don’t want to elaborate on what threats you have received. Do you?”

“Nothing major, I’ve lost most of my business but being married to a media mogul has stopped that from being too much of an issue. My dad’s lost clients but he assures me he’s okay.They’ve threatened Mac but nobody actually seems to be able to put a dent in her pockets. Being a one woman tech wiz is apparently the business to be in.” Veronica paused, deciding to leave the latest threats she’d received out of the conversation. They shouldn’t matter in the end, they had been good enough to persuade her to end the marriage before they could be followed through but she was so close to figuring it out. “Any other burning questions?”

“Too many to process,” While Logan would’ve liked to keep Veronica talking all day, he needed time to think over everything she had already told him.

“Well, I am going to be around until the end of the first week of January. If you come up with anything else, let me know I’d be happy to meet with you again.” Veronica smiled across the desk. Logan smiled back and started to stand up.

“I will be taking you up on that offer but if you need anything Veronica let me know.” She stood up too and started walking him to the door.

“Actually, what are your plans for tomorrow evening?”

“Nothing really, Dick probably has some weird holiday plan that mostly involves getting drunk.”

“While I would hate to take you away from that, I could really use a getaway driver.”

“On Christmas Eve?”

“Ya, we are going to Mac’s house for dinner. Our marriage is going to be over sooner or later either way and Mac thought Christmas Eve might be a good time to explain to her parents what is really going on. After I figured I’d let Mac, Stacey and her family celebrate without my interference. I was going to make Dad come pick me up, but it would make more sense if he came with us. I promise payment in the form of snickerdoodles.” At the end of the sentence she gave him her patented Veronica Mars head tilt and looked up at him with a smile on her face. 

“I would love to be your chauffeur for the night.”

“Great we’ll meet you behind their house at 7:30.”

They had wandered into the reception area of Keith’s office by the time they finished making their plans. Logan looked at his hands trying to come up with one last question to put off the inevitable goodbyes.

“Oh how does Charlie fit into all of this?”

Veronica starred at Logan for a second before remembering that Charlie had also been at the charity ball in New York. “Did you talk to him after I left the other night?”

“Ya,” Logan looked down, embarrassed for a second at why he had made sure to meet the man, “Dick might have suggested he was your husband and I just wanted to make sure.”

Veronica laughed, “Ya I’m pretty sure Beth might have a lot to say about that,” at Logan’s confused look she clarified, “his wife, they’ve been married for years. He’s like a father to Stacey and Ethan. Beth and he have all the reasons in the world not to believe in marriage but they both think it is so important, don’t let all his flirting make you think otherwise. Makes me believe maybe it’s not all a sham.” Veronica looked wistful for a second, amazed at the love and care the two put into their relationship. Logan was surprised, he didn’t know if had ever heard Veronica talk that well about a marriage. Even before it became her job to spot cheating spouses, she had always seemed to talk about marriage with a little bit of a sarcastic lilt to her voice as if she never truly believed in the happily ever after. Veronica shook her head out of her thoughts about everything Charlie and Beth had gone through. “So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I guess you will.” Logan gave her one last smirk and a salute before heading out the door.

Veronica sighed and headed back to the receptionist desk she had once called her own. The holidays and Logan were cutting into her time at home and she had plenty she needed to get done.

There were leads that needed to be followed in California and they were the real reason for her two week vacation. She also needed to make sure she was seen around Neptune with Stacey so nobody got suspicious about her marriage.She wasn’t convinced that the black mailer didn’t have eyes on her and even if they didn’t, the paparazzi would still be looking. Veronica hadn’t been kidding when she had called her wife a media mogul.

Stacey owned her own media conglomerate called the Q Line, it was the premiere destination to find all news on anything queer related, from pop culture and quizzes to important news and activism. It was actually how she had originally met Mac. Mac ran a one woman tech consultant firm for the highest priority clients, simply called Q, originally based on the nickname Veronica had given her in high school. When Stacey first started to get her platform off the ground she wanted the best and couldn’t help but hire the company with such a similar name. When they met it was love at first sight.Mac introduced Stacey and Veronica a few weeks later.Veronica had instantly liked tall brunette, it was obvious she didn’t take anybody’s crap and that she really cared for Veronica’s partner in crime. Plus it didn’t hurt that dating Stacey would mean Mac would be spending more time in New York.

Stacey and Ethan were closer than most real brothers and sisters and so the four of them quickly became a group. Stacey and Ethan knew almost as many of Veronica’s secrets as Mac and they were seen together all around the city. Since Veronica was the only member of the group not publicly out, it was assumed that she also liked girls and after Mac and Stacey’s amicable public break up, no one thought that her relationship with Stacey was at all strange.

Veronica opened up the Prying Eyez website and typed in the last name of Lane. She figured she would do some background research on her targets today and then head back to the Grand and her wife. Stacey and Mac had spent last night and today together. They had maintained a public friendship since the break up but hadn’t gotten to have too much alone time. Veronica did her best to give them as much as possible but with everyone watching they had to be careful. At this point she figured it might get suspicious and she decided that she should be seen taking Stacey around Neptune instead, pointing out all of her favorite childhood haunts. _Maybe I’ll leave out the River Stix,_ she laughed to herself. When she had gotten the information she wanted she closed her browser and headed back to the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys didn't find the big reveal too crazy! Let me know what you think!


End file.
